Ready Player One (novel)
Ready Player One is the title of a dystopian science fiction novel by Ernest Cline from 2011. The debut novel immediately landed on various bestseller lists and brought literary recognition for the author. A German translation was published in 2012 by Hannes and Sara Riffel . The book describes the adventures of a treasure hunt that a poor youngster experienced in a computer game called OASIS in 2045 . Director Steven Spielberg filmed the novel in 2018.
Structure and content
The novel is divided into a kind of prologue , designated as 0000 , three parts, designated as levels 1 to 3, and a total of 39 chapters. Finally, there is a thank you.
The book describes two scenarios in detail . On the one hand, a real, dystopian changed world in the year 2045, which was completely destroyed by the ruthless exploitation of fossil fuels , with the consequence of a global energy and economic crisis that starves large parts of humanity, which leads to a massive decline of civilization. In this world of maximum social contrasts and unrestrained capitalism, there is also immeasurable wealth in the hands of large criminal corporations and private individuals.
On the other hand, there is a perfect virtual world , a simulation that replaces dreary reality in an illusionistic way. This virtual world is called OASIS ( Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation ). As an alternative to run-down state school systems, it offers education and knowledge for everyone, entertainment and computer games, but also a parallel currency and economic system that can be seamlessly transferred to the real world. It was programmed by the humble nerd James Halliday, a fan of 1980s pop culture , who made a billion dollar fortune with it. The OASIS is operated by Halliday's large corporation GSS (Gregarious Simulation Systems) , which has so far been able to fend off all hostile takeover attempts by its unscrupulous competitor, the monopoly capitalist group IOI (Innovative Online Industries) .
The 18-year-old first-person narrator and hero of the story, Wade Watts, experiences an exciting adventure between these worlds . Similar to Halliday, Wade comes from a precarious background. After his mother's death, he lives with his aunt in a kind of American trailer park , the so-called stacks , which consist of countless mobile homes stacked on top of one another and have the character of a slum . After the death of OASIS founder Halliday, a virtual global hunt for his billion- dollar fortune begins, because Halliday has stipulated in his will that the hunter who finds his so-called Easter egg will have the entire fortune that comes from the OASIS, the group and Halliday's private assets exists, inherits. The whole thing is staged as a gigantic video game for millions of treasure hunters. The hunters have to solve tricky tasks to reach the next level. To do this, they have to be familiar with the smallest details of the entire pop culture of the 1980s, especially the video games from Halliday's youth.
Publication, reception and review
The American first edition was published in 2011 by Crown Publishers ( Random House ), New York. The first German edition was published as an eBook in 2012 by Penhaligon Verlag, and since 2014 the edition has been available from Blanvalet Verlag (both in the Random House publishing group).
Cline has already designed the story and characters of his novel in such a way that an appropriate film adaptation is possible. Steven Spielberg turned the story into a film. The screenplay for the movie was also written by Cline.
The book also made it onto several bestseller lists and mostly received consistently good reviews (selection):
- Janet Maslin: “The science-fiction writer John Scalzi has aptly referred to Ready Player One as a 'nerdgasm' [and] there can be no better one-word description of this ardent fantasy artifact about fantasy culture. But Mr. Cline is able to incorporate his favorite toys and games into a perfectly accessible narrative. " In: The New York Times
- New York Journal of Books : “An action-packed, highly entertaining, nostalgic thrill ride through the past combined with the danger and excitement of a not-too-distant future. It marries the fantastical world of Harry Potter with a touch of Orson Scott Card — where fantasy is reality, geeks are cool, and the possibilities are endless. ”
- USA Today : “Enchanting… Willy Wonka meets the Matrix . This novel undoubtedly qualifies Cline as the hottest geek on the planet right now. [But] you don't have to be a geek to get it. "
- Entertainment Weekly : "Triggers memories and emotions embedded in the psyche of a generation… [Cline crafts] a fresh and imaginative world from our old toy box, and finds significance in there among the collectibles."
- Berliner Morgenpost : "The variety of scenarios, the almost inexhaustible wealth of ideas and many funny allusions to the pop culture of the 80s make the book a highlight."
- Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger : "Cline knows better than anyone else how to describe virtual worlds in a fascinating way."
filming
In the spring of 2018, the film was released Ready Player One by Steven Spielberg .
Sequels
The author Ernest Cline has confirmed that Ready Player One will be expanded into a trilogy. With the completion of filming for the film, Cline began working on the sequels again. The working title of the sequel is Ready Player Two .
On July 8, 2020, it was announced that the sequel entitled "Ready Player Two" would be released on November 24, 2020 in North America.
Prices
In 2012 Ernest Cline received the Prometheus Award from the Libertarian Futurist Society for Ready Player One and the book received one of the ten annual Alex Awards from the American Library Association .
expenditure
English language editions
- Ready Player One. Crown Publishers, 2011, ISBN 978-0-307-88743-6 .
- Ready Player One. Broadway Books, 2014, ISBN 978-0-307-88744-3 .
English audio book
- Ready Player One. Read by Wil Wheaton, Random House Audio, Jul 16, 2011, 16h 03m
German-language editions (translation by Hannes and Sara Riffel)
- Ready Player One. Penhaligon Verlag, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-641-07293-3 . (E-book)
- Ready Player One. Blanvalet Verlag, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-442-38030-5 .
- Ready Player One. Fischer Tor, Frankfurt am Main 2017, ISBN 978-3-596-29659-0 .
German audio book
- Ready Player One. Read by Martin Bross, Argon Verlag, March 23, 2012, 16 h 03 min.
- Ready Player One. Read by David Nathan, Argon Verlag, April 27, 2017, 14 h 49 min.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ready Player One. In: Los Angeles Times (bestseller list)
- ↑ Ready Player One on moviepilot.com
- ↑ Amazon website, English reviews
- ↑ Amazon website, German reviews
- ↑ Ready Player One: Author Ernest Cline confirms trilogy . In: IGN Germany . April 2, 2018 ( ign.com [accessed April 2, 2018]).
- ^ Greg Evans, Greg Evans: 'Ready Player Two' Sequel Novel Set For November Publication Date. In: Deadline. July 8, 2020, accessed on July 8, 2020 .
- ^ Website of the Libertarian Futurist Society
- ^ American Library Association website
- ^ Ernest Cline, Wil Wheaton: Ready Player One . Unabridged. Random House Audio, New York 2011, ISBN 978-0-307-91314-2 ( amazon.de [accessed May 19, 2017]).
- ↑ Audiobooks & Original Audio | Free book w / 30 day Trial | Audible.com. Retrieved May 19, 2017 (American English).